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[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 66 (Friday, April 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17158-17159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6459]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8295-7]

Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public 
Meeting of the Science Advisory Board Hypoxia Advisory Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is 
announcing a public meeting of the SAB Hypoxia Advisory Panel to 
discuss and develop its preliminary draft advisory report concerning 
the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

DATES: The meeting will be held on June 13, 2007 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., 
June 14, 2007 from 9 a.m.--5 p.m., and on June 15, 2007 from 9 a.m.--12 
p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana at the 
Astor Crowne Plaza located at 739 Canal Street (Canal and Bourbon 
Street).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding the public meeting may contact Dr. Holly 
Stallworth, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), U.S. EPA Science Advisory 
Board Staff Office by telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9867, or via e-
mail at [email protected]. The SAB mailing address is: U.S. EPA 
Science Advisory Board (1400F), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. General information about the SAB, as well as any 
updates concerning the meeting announced in this notice, may be found 
in the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the SAB Hypoxia 
Advisory Panel will hold a public meeting to develop a report that 
details advances in the state of the science regarding hypoxia in the 
Northern Gulf of Mexico. The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to 
provide independent scientific and technical advice to the EPA 
Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and 
regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee chartered under 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App. 
The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB 
Staff Office procedural policies.
    Background: EPA participates with other Federal agencies, states 
and tribes in the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient 
Task Force. In 2001, the Task Force released the Action Plan for 
Reducing, Mitigating and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of 
Mexico (or Action Plan available at http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/taskforce/actionplan.htm). The Action Plan was informed by the science 
described in 2000 in An Integrated Assessment of Hypoxia in the 
Northern Gulf of Mexico (or Integrated Assessment available at http://www.noaa.gov/products/hypox_finalfront.pdf) developed by the National 
Science and Technology Council, Committee on Environment and Natural 
Resources. Six technical reports provided the scientific foundation for 
the Integrated Assessment and are available at http://

[[Page 17159]]

www.nos.noaa.gov/products/pub--hypox.html. Given the passage of 6 
years, EPA's Office of Water has requested that the SAB develop a 
report that evaluates the updated science regarding the causes and 
extent of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the scientific 
basis of possible management options in the Mississippi River Basin.
    In response to EPA's request, the SAB Staff Office formed the SAB 
Hypoxia Advisory Panel. Background on the Panel formation process was 
provided in a Federal Register notice published on February 17, 2006 
(71 FR 8578-8580). The SAB Hypoxia Advisory Panel met on September 6-7, 
2006 (71 FR 45543-45544), again on December 6-8, 2006 (71 FR 66329-
66330) and again on February 28-March 2, 2007 ( 72 FR 5968-5969). 
Teleconferences of the full Hypoxia Advisory Panel and its three 
subgroups have also been published in Federal Register Notices (71 FR 
55786-55787, 71 FR 59107, 71 FR 77743-77744 and 72 FR 11359-11360). 
Information about the SAB Hypoxia Advisory Panel is available on the 
SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Materials in support of this 
meeting will be placed on the SAB Web site http://www.epa.gov/sab/ in 
advance of the meeting.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB to 
consider during the advisory process.
    Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting an 
oral presentation at a public meeting will be limited to five minutes 
per speaker, with no more than a total of one hour for all speakers. 
Interested parties should contact Dr. Stallworth, DFO, at the contact 
information noted above, no later than June 4, 2007, to be placed on 
the public speaker list for the June 13-15, 2007 meeting. Written 
Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff 
Office no later than June 4, 2007 so that the information may be made 
available to the SAB for their consideration prior to this meeting. 
Written statements should be supplied to the DFO in the following 
formats: one hard copy with original signature, and one electronic copy 
via e-mail to [email protected] (acceptable file format: Adobe 
Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in 
IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format).
    Meeting Access: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Stallworth at (202) 
343-9867 or [email protected]. To request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact Dr. Stallworth, preferably at least 10 days 
prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process 
your request.

    Dated: April 2, 2007.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
 [FR Doc. E7-6459 Filed 4-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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